Sri Lanka recorded a daunting 148-run win over a struggling Scotland side in their Pool A World Cup tie at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, thanks to Kumar Sangakkara's fourth consecutive ton of the tournament that helped Angelo Mathews' men post a dominating total.
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a brilliant start with opener Tillakaratne Dilshan partnering with wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara to put up a solid 195-run second wicket partnership between them after opening batsman Lahiru Thirimanne went back to the pavilion for his individual four runs.
Dilshan played a brilliant 104-run knock off 99 deliveries, including ten fours and one six. But, his century was overshadowed by Sangakkara's 95-ball 124-run knock, as the former skipper became the first batsman ever to score four consecutive centuries in a World Cup.
Sangakkara was in brilliant form as fired 13 fours and four sixes to lift Sri Lanka to the dominating total.
Skipper Mathews also contributed with the bat with his brisk half-century before he was bowled out for his individual 51, which came off just 21 deliveries.
Nuwan Kulasekara and Dushmantha Chameera remained unbeaten for Sri Lanka on their individual scores of 18 and 12 respectively, as the team posted a 364-run target for Scotland to win.
Paceman Josh Davey was the pick of the bowlers for Scotland as he claimed three crucial wickets -Dilshan, Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene- with his right-arm medium-fast. Meanwhile, Alasdair Evans and Richie Berrington claimed two wickets apiece while Rob Taylor and Matt Machan took one each.
Scotland got off to a poor start as they began their chase and were struggling at 44-3 in the 12th over before skipper Preston Mommsen and middle-order batsman Freddie Coleman put up a 118-run fourth-wicket between them to lift their side to 162-4 in the 32nd over.
Mommsen knocked a respectable 60 runs while Coleman hit 70 to show some sign of a strong comeback by the team. However, Scotland's lower-order failed to build on their defiant performance as they were bowled out for a paltry 215 in 43.1 overs.
Kulasekara and Chameera were the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka as they each claimed three wickets to rip open Scotland's batting line-up.
Sangakkara was named the Man of the Match for his antics with the bat. He said that it was a pretty good game and insisted that it was important that they finished off strong, especially when playing a team like Scotland.
Sangakkara claimed that Sri Lanka could have got complacent, but added that they came in and put up the necessary fight. He insisted that he considers himself lucky to be a part of such a good side.
Meanwhile, the losing side's skipper, Mommsen, said that he and Coleman got a nice partnership there, adding that it gave them a nice platform. But he said that it is sad that they couldn't push harder and get it closer, claiming that it was hard not to go on and get a bigger score.
Mommsen claimed that it was a huge learning experience, especially watching some of the best batsmen in the world, insisting that he saw how Sri Lanka kept their calm under pressure, so Scotland could learn a lot. He claimed that Sangakkara is definitely number one in terms of the players Scotland has had to play against.
Sri Lanka are currently placed at the second-place in the World Cup Pool A rankings and have already qualified for the quarterfinals in the tournament.
